Ranking the 10 Most Tenacious Defenders in College Basketball

Anthony Davis notwithstanding, being a superstar as a defensive player in college basketball is rarely a glamour job. The best defenders can change the course of a game or a season, but their biggest plays don’t even necessarily show up in the box score.

Michigan State freshman Gary Harris gets most of his accolades for his deadeye three-point shooting, but he’s also one of the toughest defenders in the stacked Big Ten. Harris can force an opposing shooter out of his rhythm as well as any guard in the country with his physical playing style and unstinting hustle on the defensive end.

With or without eye-popping stats, Harris and the rest of the players on this list are matchups no offensive player ever wants to see. Read on to see who makes the most big plays, who can stick to his man the tightest and who does the best job of putting it all together to earn the top spot.

Honorable Mention: Nerlens Noel

Although his season ended sadly and prematurely, Nerlens Noel accomplished more than enough to earn a place in any discussion of top-tier collegiate defenders.

The Kentucky freshman made more impact plays than any defender in the country, even if he took more chances doing it than coach John Calipari might’ve preferred.

Before a torn ACL ended his season in mid-February, Noel had taken over the national lead in blocks (4.4 per game) while also racking up a steal total (2.1 a night) that any point guard would be proud of.

With his long arms, high motor and peerless instincts, Noel dragged the Wildcats into the national rankings almost single-handedly before his year ended.

8. Roosevelt Jones, Butler

Brad Stevens’ Butler squads have thrived on team defense, but it never hurts to have an individual stopper in the mix. Roosevelt Jones’ blend of size (6’4”, 227 lbs) and agility gives him more matchup versatility than any other Bulldog.

Jones is also a classic energy guy who makes most of his plays by outhustling everyone else on the floor.

The defining play of his season, a sensational buzzer-beater to knock off Gonzaga, started with an improbable steal that Jones could only have gotten because he was in the right position and ready to react to a Zags miscue.

7. Gary Harris, Michigan State

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A close call over teammate Branden Dawson, Gary Harris gets the nod as the most instinctive of the Spartans’ many terrific defenders. Not that Harris is any slouch as an athlete, either—his 6’4”, 205-pound frame is tailor-made for the bruising Big Ten.

Even as a true freshman, Harris has shown an exceptional ability to judge how much contact he can get away with as he fights through screens and bumps his man on the outside.

His zero foul-outs are just one testament to how reliable he’s been as a lockdown defensive option for Tom Izzo.

5. Victor Oladipo, Indiana

One of the running themes of Victor Oladipo’s breakout season is that the versatile swingman’s value doesn’t necessarily show up in his stats.

One obvious exception, though, is the 6’5” junior’s defense, where he leads the Big Ten with 2.3 steals per game.

Oladipo’s scrambling, breakneck style lets him make plays all over the court, yet he’s rarely caught out of position.

He also has the uncommon virtue of not letting his offensive struggles affect his defense—witness the potentially game-saving block he made on Illinois’ D.J. Richardson seconds after committing a devastating turnover at the end of the Illini upset of the Hoosiers.

2. Otto Porter Jr., Georgetown

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If you were building the ideal defender in a laboratory, he’d probably look a lot like Otto Porter Jr. Georgetown’s long-armed, mobile 6’8” star can guard any position at the college level, and it sometimes seems like he’s able to guard all five of them at once.

As big and physical as he is, Porter—who does change a lot of shots—doesn't get many blocks.

On the other hand, his 2.0 steals per game are a remarkable total for a player his size, not to mention a testament to how active he is whenever the opposing team has the ball.

1. Aaron Craft, Ohio State

As impressive as the other ball-hawking guards on this list are, no one combines fundamentals with playmaking defense like Aaron Craft.

The Buckeyes’ junior floor leader is averaging a respectable 2.0 steals per game, but that number reflects only a fraction of the impact he has on opposing offenses.

With Craft draped over his opposite number and keeping the other team from getting into an offensive rhythm, Ohio State’s defense has overcome a sputtering offense to keep the Buckeyes at No. 14 in the national rankings.

It’s worth noting that many of Ohio State’s key victories have featured Craft going head-to-head with some of the most explosive offensive point guards in college hoops—a group that includes Minnesota’s Andre Hollins, Michigan State’s Keith Appling and Michigan’s Trey Burke.